With a sister crazy about Jodha Akbar, it imperatively follows that all possible books or adaptations of the life of the Mughal emperor Akbar will be read and seen. Written by Rina Singh, this children's book was a collection of short stories on the famour king-minister combination of Akbar and Birbal.
One of the stories that stand out was the one where Akbar orders Birbal to find four most foolish men in his country. Birbal finds a guy carrying his load on his back while riding on a donkey and refusing to unload on the donkey, since the donkey is already carrying his weight. Another one is a guy who is looking for something he lost under the lamp, even though he lost it in the darker area, because of the fact that there was no light in the dark area. When he returns to court, he tells that apart from the two he found, the third fool is Birbal himself for accepting such an assignment and fourth, the emperor himself for thinking of such a task.
In spite of the insults that Birbal often hurled at Akbar with all due respect, Akbar showed utmost acceptance of the truth and always praised Birbal for both his intelligence, honesty and loyalty. Such camaraderie is rare to witness and worth having.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Saturday, January 26, 2008
The Opposite of Invisible
A written version of chic-flick by Liz Gallagher unfolds in this young teen novel.
Alice and Jewel were the best friends for as long as they could remember. Their families knew each other, they stood by each other in the worst of times and Alice and Jewel were part of the artistic group in high school, which was mostly invisible to the 'popular' bunch.
Until Alice started getting a crush on Simon Murphy, her group mate in Spanish class, whom she found to be irresistible. And that seemed to be the only crevice in her communication with Jewel - she could never talk about that to him. Yet, on of the days, hanging out with Simon, she kisses him - she was in heaven. And the very next day, she kisses Jewel. They have an almost unspoken fight, while she becomes Simon's girlfriend. She enjoys her time, but everytime she sees Jewel hang around with someone else, her heart breaks. Bit by bit, she also discovers Simon is not her kind. Eventually, one day, Jewel tells her that he would so anything for her and breaks up with his girlfriend. Alice seizes on this opportunity to break up with Simon. Jewel and she are best friends forever again!
With so many Bollywood flicks and typical Hollywood chic romances, I could again fathom what the ending would have been, yet it was a cute read, for the different style and troubles the youngsters face today.
Alice and Jewel were the best friends for as long as they could remember. Their families knew each other, they stood by each other in the worst of times and Alice and Jewel were part of the artistic group in high school, which was mostly invisible to the 'popular' bunch.
Until Alice started getting a crush on Simon Murphy, her group mate in Spanish class, whom she found to be irresistible. And that seemed to be the only crevice in her communication with Jewel - she could never talk about that to him. Yet, on of the days, hanging out with Simon, she kisses him - she was in heaven. And the very next day, she kisses Jewel. They have an almost unspoken fight, while she becomes Simon's girlfriend. She enjoys her time, but everytime she sees Jewel hang around with someone else, her heart breaks. Bit by bit, she also discovers Simon is not her kind. Eventually, one day, Jewel tells her that he would so anything for her and breaks up with his girlfriend. Alice seizes on this opportunity to break up with Simon. Jewel and she are best friends forever again!
With so many Bollywood flicks and typical Hollywood chic romances, I could again fathom what the ending would have been, yet it was a cute read, for the different style and troubles the youngsters face today.
The Road of the Dead
The novel is a young adult thriller written by Kevin Brooks. With my sibling working at the local library as a book reviewer, I get an awful lot of opportunity to be a bookworm of books for ages 12 and up, but this was the first time I took avail of it and I have to say it wasn't bad at all.
Rachael's death comes as a shock to her family in London. While the police are investigating her death, her brother is fuming with rage because they can't yet get her body to bury, as until the investigation is over, the body can't be buried. So Ruben sets out to the moorland, Lychcombe, where his sister was raped, killed and left naked. To keep his hot headed brother from trouble, Cole sets along with him. Cole has a great gift - he is able to sense things from his relations from time to time. He was able to feel Rachael in her last moments and knows that both his sister's killer is also dead.
On the way, they meet Rachael's friend, who bears striking resemblance to her. While living at their place (with her husband), the brothers feel that there is something that Rachel's friend, Abbie is not telling them. After some roaming, threatening, they find out that a huge corporation is trying to buy the whole place so that they can convert the locality into a resort, but Abbie was refusing to sell, since it is her ancestral place. Meanwhile, her husband, an unscrupulous fellow, sets her up with the contractor (just to scare her). But Abbie comes to know of the plans and lends Rachael her raincoat that wet night. Mistaking her, the hireman does more damage than needed. To cover the whole conspiracy up, the hireman is also killed by the contractor. The story ends with both brothers returning to London.
The story was well written and progressed smoothly. There was quite a bit of violence for young adult, but I never understand what is an acceptable level of violence at any age. Nevertheless, reading it, there was some level of anticipation in trying to figure out how Ruben and Cole found out the mystery, but the author bursts the mystery quite soggily in claiming Ruben never needed to know how Cole found out. So the whole anticipation seemed pointless. Also because I had read a few more thrillers than an average young reader would have, I had figured out what had happened to Rachael, when Abbie was introduced to have a striking resemblance to her - it must have been a mix-up. My only motivation to read further was to find out why and I suppose that was cleared in a few more chapters too. So until you are looking for some dramatic, soap opera-like ending to the novel, the plot unfolds in a few chapters. However, it was one of the best books I read with some of the new authors. Definitely a quick and easy read for the mature audience.
Rachael's death comes as a shock to her family in London. While the police are investigating her death, her brother is fuming with rage because they can't yet get her body to bury, as until the investigation is over, the body can't be buried. So Ruben sets out to the moorland, Lychcombe, where his sister was raped, killed and left naked. To keep his hot headed brother from trouble, Cole sets along with him. Cole has a great gift - he is able to sense things from his relations from time to time. He was able to feel Rachael in her last moments and knows that both his sister's killer is also dead.
On the way, they meet Rachael's friend, who bears striking resemblance to her. While living at their place (with her husband), the brothers feel that there is something that Rachel's friend, Abbie is not telling them. After some roaming, threatening, they find out that a huge corporation is trying to buy the whole place so that they can convert the locality into a resort, but Abbie was refusing to sell, since it is her ancestral place. Meanwhile, her husband, an unscrupulous fellow, sets her up with the contractor (just to scare her). But Abbie comes to know of the plans and lends Rachael her raincoat that wet night. Mistaking her, the hireman does more damage than needed. To cover the whole conspiracy up, the hireman is also killed by the contractor. The story ends with both brothers returning to London.
The story was well written and progressed smoothly. There was quite a bit of violence for young adult, but I never understand what is an acceptable level of violence at any age. Nevertheless, reading it, there was some level of anticipation in trying to figure out how Ruben and Cole found out the mystery, but the author bursts the mystery quite soggily in claiming Ruben never needed to know how Cole found out. So the whole anticipation seemed pointless. Also because I had read a few more thrillers than an average young reader would have, I had figured out what had happened to Rachael, when Abbie was introduced to have a striking resemblance to her - it must have been a mix-up. My only motivation to read further was to find out why and I suppose that was cleared in a few more chapters too. So until you are looking for some dramatic, soap opera-like ending to the novel, the plot unfolds in a few chapters. However, it was one of the best books I read with some of the new authors. Definitely a quick and easy read for the mature audience.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
eklavya
This was probably one of the coolest recent Bollywood movies. Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Boman Irani, Vidhya Balan, Jackie Shroff, Jimmy Shergill, Rima Sen, Sanjay Dutt and Sharmila Tagore, the story revolves around the life of the traditional bodyguard with secrets in this Rana family.
Eklavya (AB) is the royal bodyguard of Rana (Irani). The movie begins with a very sick Tagore mumbling Eklavya's name. Rana tries his best to distract her and revive her. But eventually is angered and smothers her to death. He is watched by his insane daughter, Sen. Eklavya is summoned and all rites completed.
With much sadness, Rana confides his impotency and the fact that the Eklavya had fathered his children to Shroff, who is his brother. He implores him to kill Eklavya, since the guard reminds him of his incapacity. Shroff plans with his son, Shergill. Part of the plan was to create a threatened scenario for the Rana. Dutt is called as the investigating cop of the conspiracy. He is indebted to Eklavya, from his younger days for having inspired him to be something in life.
Meanwhile, Khan returns to a saddened home. He visits his sister and sees his childhood sweetheart - Balan. Balan takes care of Sen and also gets a letter from his mother through her, explaining his birth.
While spending time with his sister, he understands through his paintings that his mother was murdered and is disturbed. Meanwhile, Shroff and Shergill carry out their plan. Suprisingly, Eklavya is left alive, while Rana is killed and their driver fatally hurt. While the investigation is being taking place, Eklavya figures out the murderer is Shergill, as he mentions details that even Eklavya hadn't mentioned. When he tries to kill him, Dutt refrains him. The driver, Balan's father, dies and Khan promises to marry her.
Khan asks Eklavya to retire, but he returns to Shergill's lair and kills him. He brings Shroff too, but he is shocked to find out that the second murderer was Khan himself.
Balan on the other hand, finds out that Khan was the murderer and moves away from him. Eklavya comes to kill Khan, but finds out the truth about the queen's murder and stops his son from suicide. The movie ends with the family coming together.
Definitely a good movie with interesting twists. I was kind of annoyed by the funny namaste that AB kept doing and honestly, he doesn't have the strength to carry out a body guard role - he looks so old. Other than that, a good treat.
Eklavya (AB) is the royal bodyguard of Rana (Irani). The movie begins with a very sick Tagore mumbling Eklavya's name. Rana tries his best to distract her and revive her. But eventually is angered and smothers her to death. He is watched by his insane daughter, Sen. Eklavya is summoned and all rites completed.
With much sadness, Rana confides his impotency and the fact that the Eklavya had fathered his children to Shroff, who is his brother. He implores him to kill Eklavya, since the guard reminds him of his incapacity. Shroff plans with his son, Shergill. Part of the plan was to create a threatened scenario for the Rana. Dutt is called as the investigating cop of the conspiracy. He is indebted to Eklavya, from his younger days for having inspired him to be something in life.
Meanwhile, Khan returns to a saddened home. He visits his sister and sees his childhood sweetheart - Balan. Balan takes care of Sen and also gets a letter from his mother through her, explaining his birth.
While spending time with his sister, he understands through his paintings that his mother was murdered and is disturbed. Meanwhile, Shroff and Shergill carry out their plan. Suprisingly, Eklavya is left alive, while Rana is killed and their driver fatally hurt. While the investigation is being taking place, Eklavya figures out the murderer is Shergill, as he mentions details that even Eklavya hadn't mentioned. When he tries to kill him, Dutt refrains him. The driver, Balan's father, dies and Khan promises to marry her.
Khan asks Eklavya to retire, but he returns to Shergill's lair and kills him. He brings Shroff too, but he is shocked to find out that the second murderer was Khan himself.
Balan on the other hand, finds out that Khan was the murderer and moves away from him. Eklavya comes to kill Khan, but finds out the truth about the queen's murder and stops his son from suicide. The movie ends with the family coming together.
Definitely a good movie with interesting twists. I was kind of annoyed by the funny namaste that AB kept doing and honestly, he doesn't have the strength to carry out a body guard role - he looks so old. Other than that, a good treat.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Bee Movie
Self explanatory title - a movie about the Bees.
Barry, the bee, a new graduate to work in the honey factory is about to make the most important decision in his life - the job of the lifetime. He realises if he becomes the stirrer or the whatever in the honey factory, his life is just that. He feels unsure and takes a trip to the outside world with the pollinators.
He comes really close to being dead, but Vanessa saves him and he feels obligated to thank her. In this, they develop a great friendship. Eventually, she takes him shopping and he is shocked to find bottles and bottles of honey with fake people and their names on it. He is enraged and vows to get to the bottom. He discovers bees are bred in captivity and their honey taken from them.
He engages in a lawsuit with Vanessa's help and the world is amazed to see a talking bee, and eventually wins the case. No more honey stealing!
But over time, Vanessa's florist business goes down. The world looks like a dump, without plants and the bees seem to have nothing to do. Barry realises it is all his fault, but he finds an idea to get it all back. Vanessa and Barry attend the flower show and steal away a truck full of flowers and bring it on the plane. On the way back, when Barry tries to talk to the pilots, they become pilot-less and Barry's hive friends help him land the plane and the pollen is thrown around again and in a few days time, the balance is restored.
Again, one of the cute movies with focus on animals and insects and their life. It almost makes me think about how delicately nature is balanced over little things that all of us are supposed to do and this, the earth functions in a perfect balance. In the name of respect and equal rights to all, if we keep challenging routines, things do get a little crazy and off balance. Definitely worth a watch.
Barry, the bee, a new graduate to work in the honey factory is about to make the most important decision in his life - the job of the lifetime. He realises if he becomes the stirrer or the whatever in the honey factory, his life is just that. He feels unsure and takes a trip to the outside world with the pollinators.
He comes really close to being dead, but Vanessa saves him and he feels obligated to thank her. In this, they develop a great friendship. Eventually, she takes him shopping and he is shocked to find bottles and bottles of honey with fake people and their names on it. He is enraged and vows to get to the bottom. He discovers bees are bred in captivity and their honey taken from them.
He engages in a lawsuit with Vanessa's help and the world is amazed to see a talking bee, and eventually wins the case. No more honey stealing!
But over time, Vanessa's florist business goes down. The world looks like a dump, without plants and the bees seem to have nothing to do. Barry realises it is all his fault, but he finds an idea to get it all back. Vanessa and Barry attend the flower show and steal away a truck full of flowers and bring it on the plane. On the way back, when Barry tries to talk to the pilots, they become pilot-less and Barry's hive friends help him land the plane and the pollen is thrown around again and in a few days time, the balance is restored.
Again, one of the cute movies with focus on animals and insects and their life. It almost makes me think about how delicately nature is balanced over little things that all of us are supposed to do and this, the earth functions in a perfect balance. In the name of respect and equal rights to all, if we keep challenging routines, things do get a little crazy and off balance. Definitely worth a watch.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
namnaadu
Starring Sharath Kumar and Nayanthara, the movie is about an orphan journalist, who takes revenge on society's evils.
Sharath and Nayanthara are colleagues working with a newspaper organization. Sharath is (annoyingly) bright, gets on Nayanthara's nerves, but treats the editor as his own father. The newspaper publishes revolutionary items that bring about social awakening. They discover that one of the cool drinks company is being set on a site that already has water problems and how the government is receiving bribes to let the factory be set up. This is published and as a result, the editor and his daughter are killed. Yet, Sharath takes over the responsibility and runs the press. His colleagues are attacked and finally he is 'legally' arrested.
After escaping from a plot where the police try to kill him, he returns to take revenge. He disguises himself and gets a job at the same factory and starts collecting evidence against the owner. Eventually, the truth is brought about after lots of muscle flexing and hard to believe hero saviour timings,etc.
One of those sappy patriotic movies that you can figure out the plot and ending even before the movie has headed halfway and then forgotten within the first half hour after the ending. This was probably one of the political movies of Sharath and it was drenched with it. Like I said, Sharath was trying to be very youthful, to the point of annoying, cause he didn't look youthful at all - more like an adult with midlife crisis throwing tantrums and attracting attention. Nayanthara was nothing more than a doll. Even Vadivelu's humour was void of its usual punch. Definitely good to skip this.
Sharath and Nayanthara are colleagues working with a newspaper organization. Sharath is (annoyingly) bright, gets on Nayanthara's nerves, but treats the editor as his own father. The newspaper publishes revolutionary items that bring about social awakening. They discover that one of the cool drinks company is being set on a site that already has water problems and how the government is receiving bribes to let the factory be set up. This is published and as a result, the editor and his daughter are killed. Yet, Sharath takes over the responsibility and runs the press. His colleagues are attacked and finally he is 'legally' arrested.
After escaping from a plot where the police try to kill him, he returns to take revenge. He disguises himself and gets a job at the same factory and starts collecting evidence against the owner. Eventually, the truth is brought about after lots of muscle flexing and hard to believe hero saviour timings,etc.
One of those sappy patriotic movies that you can figure out the plot and ending even before the movie has headed halfway and then forgotten within the first half hour after the ending. This was probably one of the political movies of Sharath and it was drenched with it. Like I said, Sharath was trying to be very youthful, to the point of annoying, cause he didn't look youthful at all - more like an adult with midlife crisis throwing tantrums and attracting attention. Nayanthara was nothing more than a doll. Even Vadivelu's humour was void of its usual punch. Definitely good to skip this.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
panam padaithavan
Starring MGR, Sowcar and K.R.Vijaya, the movie is about how ladies should not be.
MGR is an awesome athlete and he is taken to Calcutta as part of a sports meet and wins again. He helps a drunkard to his home and falls in love with his daughter, Vijaya. He also meets a rich man and his daughter, Sowcar, who takes an instant liking towards him. When visiting Sowcar's house, MGR discovers Vijaya works in the same household. Sowcar is a rich man's daughter, who goes to horse races, clubbing and parties, and MGR is averted by her behaviour yet keeps her company for courtesy sake. Meanwhile, his brother, Nagesh and Sowcar's sister fall in love.
Both the parents decide to become relations and propose marriage, but MGR refuses to marry Sowcar, since he is not at all fond of her. When MGR's parents propose only Nagesh's marriage to the younger one, their father refuses. A love struck Nagesh becomes worse and worse in health, finally forcing MGR to marry Sowcar for the benefit of all.
Even though Vijaya allows him to pursue the marriage, she attempts suicide and MGR rushes to her side, even though Sowcar is against it and this creates a rift in their marriage. In return for her husband's thoughtlessness, she plans to leave the house at the same time of night for a male friend, Manohar. Even though MGR discourages, she still insists. After meeting Manohar, she starts getting uncomfortable and tries to return, but he stops her and tries to take advantage of her. A typical Kollywood entry of the hero rescuing his wife, MGR jumps in and fights for her, but in the end, Sowcar is killed by his gun. The movie ends with Vijaya and MGR marrying one another.
One of my favourite songs, kann pona pokkilae, is from this movie and is filled with rich learning in simple lyrics. An OK movie, with typical hero worship elements and actions to set the right path for the viewers. Although we claim that movies show much bad things today, it is hard to sit through a movie where the hero does nothing but good - it is almost unbelievable. Any practical human these days, is bound to hurt someone and do something evil, else survival is hard. Moreover for those, who know what is right and wrong and know that movies are not life, the altruist is a useless character, as he doesn't exist. But for the masses who watch this movie mindlessly, might have been attracted to his goodness and done good themselves - a grey area indeed!
MGR is an awesome athlete and he is taken to Calcutta as part of a sports meet and wins again. He helps a drunkard to his home and falls in love with his daughter, Vijaya. He also meets a rich man and his daughter, Sowcar, who takes an instant liking towards him. When visiting Sowcar's house, MGR discovers Vijaya works in the same household. Sowcar is a rich man's daughter, who goes to horse races, clubbing and parties, and MGR is averted by her behaviour yet keeps her company for courtesy sake. Meanwhile, his brother, Nagesh and Sowcar's sister fall in love.
Both the parents decide to become relations and propose marriage, but MGR refuses to marry Sowcar, since he is not at all fond of her. When MGR's parents propose only Nagesh's marriage to the younger one, their father refuses. A love struck Nagesh becomes worse and worse in health, finally forcing MGR to marry Sowcar for the benefit of all.
Even though Vijaya allows him to pursue the marriage, she attempts suicide and MGR rushes to her side, even though Sowcar is against it and this creates a rift in their marriage. In return for her husband's thoughtlessness, she plans to leave the house at the same time of night for a male friend, Manohar. Even though MGR discourages, she still insists. After meeting Manohar, she starts getting uncomfortable and tries to return, but he stops her and tries to take advantage of her. A typical Kollywood entry of the hero rescuing his wife, MGR jumps in and fights for her, but in the end, Sowcar is killed by his gun. The movie ends with Vijaya and MGR marrying one another.
One of my favourite songs, kann pona pokkilae, is from this movie and is filled with rich learning in simple lyrics. An OK movie, with typical hero worship elements and actions to set the right path for the viewers. Although we claim that movies show much bad things today, it is hard to sit through a movie where the hero does nothing but good - it is almost unbelievable. Any practical human these days, is bound to hurt someone and do something evil, else survival is hard. Moreover for those, who know what is right and wrong and know that movies are not life, the altruist is a useless character, as he doesn't exist. But for the masses who watch this movie mindlessly, might have been attracted to his goodness and done good themselves - a grey area indeed!
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